One night with her was enough to know I would never be the same. Yet, she did everything in her power to convince herself otherwise. I might have broken us. I kept things from her, but her dismissal—her ability to abandon any emotion she once felt for me—was impressive in its devastation.
“Speak plainly, Hart.”
Fool that I was, I took her use of my preferred name as a lingering sign of hope.
“Speak plainly, quickly, you two. The welcoming party approaches.”
Now Charon decided to speak to me. I rolled my eyes and hoped somehow he understood my aggravation. “A Champion of Chaos is more dangerous to her than a Champion of Themis.”
“She’s not Chaos’s Champion of Linia,” Ember whispered, as if it were a fact she reminded herself of.
I nodded. “Lucinda is a descendant of Chaos’s Champion, but that doesn’t make her one. She has no magic that I’ve seen.”
Something like a bubble from the firstsip of champagne popped on my tongue. I hadn’t felt this yet, but I recognized it immediately. Not quite joy, but … enthusiasm. She wanted to get lost in this subject. In discovering the details about Linia’s Champions.
Good. It was why we were here.
“Can a Champion from one kingdom rule in another? How does that change the goddesses’ game?” Ember’s eyes were bright as she thought through the implications. I didn’t want to interrupt her. I hadn’t seen her this alive since before the Blessing Ceremony.
“They arrive.”
“Later, Chaos.” I leaned close so that if anyone saw us as we finished our conversation, it would help sell the story I planned to tell them—so long as Ember agreed. “She’d never consider Chaos’s Champion would associate in such a way with Themis’s. I only want to protect you. Let me.”
The pinch between Ember’s brows said she heard the words for what they were: her choice.
She shivered as she held my gaze. I didn’t glance again at the approaching party. They must only be steps away, but Charon hid us briefly beneath his wing. We stood close enough that I felt her deep breath when her spine straightened, as if those few inches from me granted her the fresh air she desperately needed.
“Fine,” she said, just as Charon’s wings receded to show a dozen guards. The prickle of Queen Lucinda’s glare pulled my attention to where she stood at the center of the group. She looked older than my father, even though she wasn’t. Wrinkles lined her face, and her hair had grayed. She kept it wrapped in a tight bun atop her head. The crown that rested on her brow boasted only quartz. I’d tested it before.
She blinked in recognition. “Sebastien. You have a dragon.”
I’d already grown used to Charon’s presence, but the lowgrowl that rumbled behind me contested the queen’s assumption. Her guards raised their blades and tightened the circle around her.
No wonder she’d come to greet us herself. Even if Charon blended in better in Linia, his presence would be questioned by the queen. There were few enough dragons on the continent that she likely knew all who passed through her kingdom.
“Surely, someone else should have investigated that particular fact for you, Lucinda,” I said.
A blush tinged her cheeks, but she didn’t flinch. “I won’t have you telling me how to run my kingdom, Sebastien. You’re hardly a role model for leadership.”
A tickle of bubbles burst across my tongue as Ember half-coughed, half-snorted behind me. I was glad she found the queen amusing.
Unfortunately, the noise drew Lucinda’s clear blue gaze. Her brows rose as she glanced between Ember and me. I didn’t care for the appraisal.
“I think only of your safety.” I gave a stiff bow, drawing the queen’s attention.
“Well, clearly not, as you brought a new dragon into my kingdom. Where did it come from, Sebastien?”
The rumble from Charon’s chest grew louder. The guards, whose weapons had only lowered slightly, retook a defensive position.
“He doesn’t like being claimed,” Ember spoke from behind me. I wanted to look to the sky and beg the chaos goddess for patience, but I knew it wouldn’t change anything. Ember was a light that couldn’t—wouldn’t—be dimmed.
The queen tilted her head, her attention once again on Ember. “And who are you? Sebastien has never traveled with a … companion before.” The queen’s nostrils flared, proving my point beautifully. To her, it was distasteful for anyone to choose to spend time with a Champion of Order.
“My name is Emberline Arkova. I’m, as you say, Har—” She stopped herself, hesitating over my name. I wished she’d finish. Hearing her use my chosen name was its own decadent sensation, one that had little to do with our magic. “I’m Hart’s companion.”
With careful steps, she reached my side and slipped her gloved hand through the crook of my arm. A cold wave of her sadness washed down my throat even as her face remained carefully blank. I wished the cool feeling was only that of the sea air on the eastern side of the capital. I wished her hand, holding tight to me, was our reality and not a show for a foreign ruler.
Fucking Chaos. I was a mess.
